Classroom to courtroom: Andover law school dean offers expert input on Bulger trial

By Jill Harmacinski
jharmacinski@eagletribune.com

As a kid growing up on Center Street in Dorchester, Michael Coyne knew who James “Whitey” Bulger and many of his associates were.

“Most people knew they were to be feared and not to be quarreled with. We all knew not to make him part of our life,” Coyne said.

Decades and a law degree later, Coyne’s personal and professional lives have collided. The associate dean of the Massachusetts School of Law in Andover, Coyne, 57, has spent the last eight weeks at John Joseph Moakley Courthouse in South Boston watching and weighing in on Bulger’s long-awaited federal trial.

“I’ve enjoyed it. It combines all my worlds into one,” said Coyne, 57, who now lives in North Andover.

Bulger, a mobster and alleged FBI informant, was captured in Santa Monica, Calif., on June 22, 2011, after fleeing Boston in 1994 following an indictment that included 19 killings during the 1970s and 80s was handed down.

At the trial, Coyne’s primary role is legal analyst for New England Cable News, but his observations and opinions are being sought by CNN, NBC news, USA Today and the Christian Science Monitor. On Friday, Coyne did an on-air interview with the American bureau of Al Jazeera, a Middle Eastern news network, he said.

Bulger’s accused crimes, which run the gamut from money laundering, drug running and murders, have long captivated Boston and New England. But Coyne understands the international appeal of the 83-year-old mobster’s story.

“Everyone loves a good murder mystery and government corruption story,” Coyne said. “It’s an extraordinarily colorful trial, an interesting trial with more colorful characters than any movie.”

“The notion we could still have such a notorious figure, even in his 80s, intrigues people,” said Coyne, a Suffolk University Law School graduate.

He pointed to USA Today, which has referred to Bulger as a “Robin Hood-like creature” that came to the aid of widows and orphans living in the South Boston area. Bulger has also been portrayed as a thug “who only robbed from those who could afford to pay him,” Coyne said.

But Coyne said two months of “extraordinary” trial have revealed the “systematic and brutal” slayings that occurred under Bulger’s reign. When convicted murderer John Martorano, one of Whitey’s soldiers took the stand, Coyne said, “I know I saw Satan himself.”

“Satan was in the room,” Coyne said. “He answered every question coldly and matter of factly.”

Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, another close Bulger associate, was equally if not more chilling, he said. “He was absolutely the lowest form of life possible. I didn’t think we could get any lower than that.”

Flemmi’s testimony also underscored his fierce loyalty and love for Bulger. Flemmi admitted “he’d do anything for Whitey,” Coyne said.

While reporters, analysts, family and some members of the public were allowed in the courtroom, no photographs or videotaping is allowed inside federal court. Cameras were stacked outside the court in what was nicknamed “Bulger Beach.” Coyne with dozens of others waited throughout the week as jurors deliberated Bulger’s fate.

Bulger will go to jail for the rest of his life, Coyne said Friday morning before the jury retired for the weekend without a verdict.

“There’s no way he’s walking. He’s going to be convicted on most charges. In essence, he’s acknowledged he was a criminal kingpin in South Boston,” Coyne predicted. He suspected Bulger might beat money laundering charges and escape convictions on the murders of Debra Davis and Deborah Hussey as he’s “maintained he’s been a bad guy or a criminal … But he never killed a woman,” Coyne said.

After the jury left for the weekend Coyne wrote on his Facebook page: “No verdict is not good news to Govt no matter what happens. Could be trouble brewing. Wasn’t this a slam dunk?”

“He wants his legend to be, while he was a bad guy, he lived by his own code,” Coyne said in the earlier interview, noting killing women would be perceived as cowardly.

On his Facebook page, Coyne continually provides insight and observation on Bulger. His legal students are among his followers. He announced earlier this week that Bulger’s defense attorneys, J.W. Carney Jr. and Hank Brennan, will be coming to the law school to give students an exclusive insight to students there. “Defending Whitey — An Inside Story” will be their presentation, he said.

While proud and fortunate to provide commentary, Coyne said he’s also been extremely impressed with the lawyers on both sides of the case. “I’ve been able to see some terrific advocacy at the highest level of our profession. … This is our system working at its best. Lawyers fighting hard for their respective clients,” he said.

Above all, Coyne said the experience will help him back at the Massachusetts School of Law.

“It’s really been an educational experience for me and one that I’m going to share with my students,” he said.

Massachusetts School of Law's Mission

Massachusetts School of Law's mission is to provide an academically rigorous affordable legal education emphasizing ethics, advocacy, leadership, and professional skills. MSLAW provides an accessible and affordable legal education to tomorrow’s leaders in law, business, and technology who seek to contribute to their communities as advocates, lawyers, and leaders. Lawyers have substantial influence in our society and MSLAW prepares its graduates to use that power to help their clients and obtain the societal advancement that a law degree has traditionally provided.

To accomplish its mission, Massachusetts School of Law brings together a diverse group of scholars, judges, expert practitioners and other professionals to provide individuals from all backgrounds a rigorous, professionally advantageous, affordable legal education so that they can improve their lives and better serve their communities.